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P. A. ALLEN.

(No Model.)

ROWING OAR. No. 309,504 Patented Dec. 16, 1884. l 26 lhviirnn @TATES Parent @rnrrcn.

FRED A. ALLEN, OF MONMOUTH, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO FRED F. HARDING, OF SAME PLACE.

ROWING OAR.

EPECIPICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 309,50l-, dated December 16, 1884:.

Application lilcd June 21,1884.

1?) all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, FRED A. ALLEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mon mouth, in the county of XVarren and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in RowingOars; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and such as will enable others skilled in the art to make and use them.

My invention relates to improvements in rowingoars, the object of the same being to provide an oar that shall be simple in con st-ruction and of the least possible number of parts, easy of operation, and so arranged that the oarsman will sit facing the direction of the movement of the boat, and also be capable of attachment in a quick and easy manner to the gunwale of any kind of a boat, and that when being so attached and in position for use the oars will be directly in line laterally with the oarsmans seat, and that the sweep or stroke of the cars may be in no way shortened or obstructed by the device for reversing the mooars may move freely from stem. to sternv of the boat. As the prime object of a bow-facing oar is to meet the wants of sportsmen, it is important that the car, on being released, should take care of itself, and also be noiseless in its operation.

My invention further relates to improvements in which the ears, on being released when the boat is in motion, will float in toward the sides of the boat, but by reason of being pivoted outside of the gunwale and farther back than has heretofore been usual with bow-facing oars,bcing at or near the middle and widest part of the boat, will not strike against the boats sides, and to provide means for tak ing up the play caused by the wear of the parts, thereby rendering their operation noiseless; and, also, to provide an oar and handle that may be folded together and brought inside of the boat without detaching from the gunwale, also, to provide a gunwale-plate, to which the rocking plate is attached, of such improved form and construction that it may be applied to the gunwalc and made to conform to its (No model.)

contour without affecting the operation of the oars. I obtain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a vertical view of the oar; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same in the middle of a stroke; Fig. 3, a plan view showing the car and handle folded together inside of the boat; Fig. 4, a view in perspective of the lock-plate for securing the our in position and for taking up the wear between the contacting-surfaces of the rocking and gunwale plates. Fig. 5 is a sectional view through 00 00, showing in detail the manner of hinging the ends of the rocking plate to the gunwale-plates, the device for taking up slack, and manner of securing and adjusting the lock-plates; and Fig. 6 is a erosssection through as m, showing in detail the manner of securing the oar and hair dle plates to the rocking plate.

F represents the gunwale of a boat, to the top of which are rigidly secured, by means of screws or in any other suitable manner, the

,' plates E E, having sockets open at the top for lion of the handle, and that the blades of the the reception of the balls 0 c on the ends of the rocking plate (1, said sockets being cut away at their inner sides sufficiently to admit of the plates E E conforming to the curve of a boats side without binding against the necks of the balls 0 c, and further provided with inclined top surfaces as seats for the lockingplates 0 c, said plates 0 0 being longitudinally slotted, c c, to receive the raised guides 0 0 on the plates E ii, and being further provided at their inner ends with the fingers or projections r/ c, the plates (2 0 being secured to the gunwaleplates 1G lil by means of the thumbscrews e 0, having the fingers e 6 bearing on the tops of the balls 0 c, the rocking plate 0 being offset at the ends in such a manner as to bring the pivotal points of the oar-plate at out and the handle-plate b in side of the gunwale F.

Iivoted to the top of the rocking plate 0 is the oar plate or socket a, .to the inner end of which is pivoted the curvedend of the connecting-bar D. To the outer or straight end of the said connecting-bar D is pivoted the curved end of the handle plate or socket Z),

said handle plate or socket I) being pivoted to the top of the rocking plate 0, the curvatures at the outer end of the handle-plate b and the inner end of the connecting-bar D being to admit of the oar A and the handle B being brought'into'positions parallel to each other.

In the oar and handle plates a and b, I do not confine myself to the mode of attaching the oar A and handle 13 shown in the drawings, as it may be deemed advisable to construct the plates at and b in the form of sockets to invention.

I am aware that prior to my invention patents have been granted for bow-facing rowingoars. I therefore do not claim such a combination, broadly; but

WVhat I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in the bow-facing rowing mechanism, with the car A, the handle B, the oar-plate a, and the handle-plate I), of the combination, with the oar A, the handle B,

the oar-plate a, the handleplate I), and the rocking plate 0, of the curved connecting-bar D, having its inner or curved end pivoted to the inner end of the oar-plate a, and its outer or straight end pivoted to the outer or curved end of the handle-plate 12, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

3. Thecombination. in a bow-facing rowing mechanism, with the car A, the handle B, the oar-plate a, the handlezplate b, the rocking plate 0, and the connectingbar D, of the gunwale-plates E E, provided with sockets for the reception of the balls 00, and further provided with the adjustable locking-plates e 6, all substantially as shown, and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of subscribing witnesses.

FRED A. ALLEN.

Witnesses:

H. B. WEBsTER, FRANK W. HARDING, H. H. PATTEE. 

